Mrs Jenkinson, who was still recovering from seasickness, further aggravated by the motion of our fast coach, lay prostrate in our quarters, unaware of my machinations. The next day, I suggested she rest still further, and solicitously plied her with the laudanum the new physician had prescribed for me. She was soon all but insensible, and I was able to sally forth to the addresses procured for me by our host, accompanied by a stout young man for my protection – robbery at such a juncture would have spelled disaster.

At the first establishment for the sale and exchange of jewellery, the proprietor looked me up and down, and thought he had an easy mark; he offered me a ludicrously small sum. I did not waste time in argument; I refused it, and left at once, even as he ran after me in some surprise and agitation. I had better luck at our next stop, a small, dimly lit shop in the Marais district. The elderly man who pored over my rather dull emerald and ruby rings with a loupe screwed into his eye wore his hair in the strangest style – ringlets curled like a woman’s descending on either side of his face. But he was courteous, and offered a reasonable sum, which I accepted without demurral. I slipped my escort a coin, with the promise of another once we were safely back at our lodgings, and it was as easy as that.

I am a bullock with a needle, but soon transferred the money back into the hems of my garments. Meanwhile, Mrs Jenkinson still pays, with notes of credit provided by my mother, for our daily needs, and writes it all up in her account book at the end of each day, knowing that our expenditure will be scrutinised on our return, and that each penny will have to be answered for. I finger the folded notes and solid coins in the linings of my skirts, and remain quiet. They feel like largesse, and they are.

The heat here is so extreme, it should be enervating; it is a solid thing, the sun beating down like a drum. It even has a sound: the air vibrates with the scream of insects. But I find it invigorating. Our hostess, a local woman who rules her large family with an iron hand, has placed her grown sons and daughter at my disposal. None of them speak English, but I spell out my wishes in my rudimentary French, and have made it clear that handsome gratuities will be paid for indulging my whims.